2013 Vuelta – Stage 7 – By a hair

Another sprint stage today on tap for the Vuelta as the race is now in Andalucia. The technical finish proved to be quite dramatic as starting with Dan Martin, who crashed with 10km to go, but continuing with the teams being indecisive about taking control. As Movistar, who were interested in keeping Alejandro Valverde safe powered through a cobbled roundabout and then eased up, Philippe Gilbert and Zydnek Stybar attacked the group and got a strong lead into the final kilometers. Behind, the peloton looked resigned to the loss as they weren’t closing on the two escapees until within the final km Anthony Roux went off in pursuit of the duo. In the final meters it was Stybar who launched early and helf off Gilbert winning by a hair.